 Hello everybody hooded Cobra Commander 788 here and we are going to compare and contrast a modern GI Joe action figure with it's vintage equivalent. We've done this before and it's usually quite a bit of fun. I did a recent live stream in which I asked you guys what you would like to see on this channel and this suggestion came up more than once. I think it's a good idea. So let's dive in to looking at a modern Duke action figure and comparing it with the vintage. This is version one of Duke. This is the retail release of that figure from 1984. It is not the mail away version from 1983. There is no American flag sticker for this figure as the mail away version had and the head sculpt is slightly different. This is Duke version 26 from 2008 which was part of the 25th anniversary line. It's not the only version of Duke that was released in that line but I thought it would be a good one to stand up against the vintage. I have to thank a viewer by the name of Larry who sent me a lot of modern GI Joe action figures and this modern Duke figure was in that set. So thank you to Larry for making this video possible. Let's take a look at the vintage figure starting with his accessories. He had a green helmet that was pretty much a standard helmet that came with a lot of other GI Joe action figures but it didn't have the holes in the sides of the helmet as most of those helmets did. The 1984 roadblock figure also had a helmet without the holes in the side. He had a green version of the submachine gun that was originally released with stalker. He had black binoculars and he had a backpack that was a reissue of the backpack that came with airborne. So really the binoculars that's his only unique accessory. The figure itself was also mostly made up of reused parts. The head and the chest were unique but the back piece, the arms and the waist piece came from 1983 dock. The upper legs were from major blood and the lower legs were from gung ho. So they basically crafted a new figure and a popular figure at that with only two unique parts. Now let's look at the modern figure and this modern figure was obviously supposed to be a translation of the style and the look of the vintage figure but with modern articulation and parts. He still has a green removable helmet. The strap that goes across his chest is now a separate piece rather than just molded on as it was on the vintage figure. He comes with a modern version of Snow Jobs rifle and that makes sense for a couple different reasons. First the card art and the original figure showed this rifle rather than the one he came with. Also this figure is probably meant to be a reference to the animated Duke and in the animated series this was the standard rifle. In his right thigh he has a pistol and a holster and that pistol is removable. Looks like a Colt 45 there. So that's a nice touch, an extra accessory for the pistol. Also instead of Airborne's backpack he comes with a kind of a gray or silver version of the Jump Jetpack with a nice American flag on there and some silver paint application. He came with a couple accessories the vintage figure didn't have. He had a figure stand and that's typical of modern GI Joe figures. He even says codenamed Duke on it. He also had an American flag that attaches to the figure stand. Nice vinyl flag there with a bronze paint application. The figure can hold that American flag and I think this is supposed to be a reference to the opening of the 1987 GI Joe animated movie in which Duke wearing the jetpack flew an American flag up to the top of the Statue of Liberty. Setting the accessories aside and just looking at the figures side by side one thing to note is the modern figures are taller averaging a full four inches rather than three and three quarter inches they are in a different scale. But all the basic elements of Duke are here that does look like Duke on the head sculpt you got the blonde hair you've got the lighter colored shirt with the strap that goes across. The modern figure has an American flag tempo that's a nice touch then of course the bottom half of the figure is green. The modern figures have the advantage in articulation and detail you can't fault the modern figures for that. You can get some dynamic poses out of these guys with their extra articulation points such as at the wrist and the ankle and their double jointed knees. I think my biggest problem with the modern Duke action figure is this light colored shirt. This shirt is just way too light. This mold was used for other Duke action figures and the colors were a bit better a bit closer to the vintage figure but that lighter colored shirt is not working for me at all. On the card back for modern Duke we have some updated card art and that's not bad at all it has them with the jet pack on and it's pretty dynamic pose looks pretty good. It also has a file card and this file card is not unique they didn't write up a new file card for him. But surprisingly the text on this file card is not a copy of the version 1 file card this text copies the Tiger Force Duke file card. I actually agree with this choice the Tiger Force Duke file card is updated a bit from the original file card and fixes some anomalies like with his rank so if you're gonna copy a vintage file card this is the one to copy. I can see how a lot of GI Joe fans might prefer the modern figure especially if they want to recreate that amazing scene from the 1987 movie. Of course I'm a vintage GI Joe guy I prefer the vintage figures I feel like the vintage figures were articulated about as much as they should be for play. The modern figure does have a lot going for it in articulation and detail I would probably like it more if the colors were a bit better and again there were other modern Duke figures that had better colors that were closer to the vintage figure and so we might look at those in the future. That was just a quick compare and contrast between a modern and a vintage GI Joe figure I hope you enjoyed it we'll try to do more of these in the future I don't have a full review coming for you this weekend but next week I should have a full GI Joe toy review for you. I want to thank everyone who watches these videos and I want to thank my patrons If you liked this channel and you'd like to support it more please check out my Patreon I am also on Facebook and Twitter and I have a website HCC788.com I'll try to keep the GI Joe videos coming so please subscribe so you don't miss any I'll see you guys soon and remember only GI Joe is GI Joe.